Nigerian National Assembly shut down
Posted by admin | 9 years ago | 2,872 times
Nigerian National Assembly was in a state of commotion this morning, as Police personnel used teargas to disperse members and visitors to the complex, causing the Senate President, David Mark to shut it down.
It started very early in the morning when members of the National Assembly, workers and visitors came to observe that a greater number of Police personnel have been drafted to the complex. They were surprised that the policemen were all new faces and were dressed in action gear.
An eye-witness said the Police personnel cordoned off the area as early as 5: 30 am, searching and screening the assembly members, workers and visitors. Incidentally when the Speaker arrived the gate of the complex he was denied entrance, which led to some people (mostly Northerners) protesting the treatment and molesting the policemen.
Eventually, after the Speaker was allowed entry, the crowd became so rowdy that the Police started throwing teargas canisters, which led to a stampede as people struggled to escape the complex environment. Reports had it that many people scaled fences to get away. One person was said to have fainted in the melee.
Factnewsonline enquiries revealed that the whole melee arose especially due to the politics of emergency rule in the three North-eastern states of Bornu, Adamawa and Yobe. President Goodluck Jonathan has already sent a request to the Senate for the extension of the emergency rule. But some people opposed it, arguing that the emergency rule has been counterproductive.
According to information reaching Factnewsonline, the Senate was supposed to host the three governors of the three states as well as military service chiefs. But it was called off at the last minute by Mark, who also closed down to be reopened on Tuesday, November 25.
Speaking on Nigerian government’s battle against Boko Haram, James Hall, a former British military attaché to Nigeria said Boko Haram have proved a hard nut to crack for Nigeria authorities. He said that even though Nigeria does not seem to be losing the battle to Boko Haram, that the country was certainly not winning it. According to him, “Nigerians are chasing a changing target and moving target” he said.
He spoke in a CNN broadcast monitored in Lagos by Factnewsonline.
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